Congress commits $2.5B to fix crumbling agricultural research labs
H.R. 3568 — AG RESEARCH Act · Filed by Kim Schrier (D-WA) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced May 21, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill creates a $500 million per year mandatory federal grant program (2025–2029) plus up to $1 billion annually in authorized appropriations (2026–2030) to help agricultural research facilities at universities repair and modernize buildings and equipment. The Secretary of Agriculture can award grants covering up to 100% of costs on a case-by-case basis, with requirements to distribute funds geographically and across diverse institutions, though no single state can receive more than 20% of available funds.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a competitive grant program funded by mandatory federal transfers to repair and modernize agricultural research facilities at universities. This is straightforward infrastructure investment in public research capacity.
What the text implies
- The 100% federal cost waiver (Section 4(2)) gives the Secretary discretion to fully fund projects without cost-sharing, potentially enabling higher-cost projects at favored institutions if not carefully administered.
- Mandatory funding mechanism (Section 6(1)) commits $2.5 billion over five years without requiring annual appropriations votes, reducing congressional oversight of year-to-year spending decisions.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
land-grant universities and agricultural research institutions; construction and engineering firms contracted for facility repairs; equipment manufacturers supplying agricultural research labs